• Rank: No. 2
(i-mode is, of course, No. 1)
Service EZWeb
Operator KDDI/Au and Tu-ka
Official sites 2,000-plus
Killer content Mail, location information services
Target Business users, young women
Net subscribers 6,716,000
Total subscribers 14,939,600
Network system PDC, cdmaOne
EZWeb, the No. 2 mobile Net service after i-mode, is based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and had 6.7 million subscribers at the end of March, accounting for some 44.9 percent of the company's cellular subscriber base. EZWeb is the only mobile Internet service in Japan that uses a non-HTML-based markup language (HDML). WAP has proven worldwide to be more difficult for developers to master; therefore, fewer content sites are being created for that platform. In comparison, there are about 40,000 sites accessible on i-mode.
• Rank: No. 3
Service J-Sky
Operator J-Phone
Official sites 6,000-plus
Killer content Mail, sound, J-Navi maps
Target Young women, youth
Net subscribers 6,156,400
Total subscribers 9,977,800
Network system PDC
J-Sky, provided by J-Phone, the wireless arm of Japan Telecom, has 6.2 million mobile Net users. J-Sky uses the HTML-derived MML (mobile markup language), so there are plenty of sites, and the service is used by about 62 percent of J-Phone's total subscriber base of 9.9 million. This is higher than market leader i-mode, which is used by about 55 per cent of DoCoMo subscribers (not counting DoCoMo PHS network email users).
Although J-Sky is only offering some 6,000 unofficial and 650 official content sites, the similarity of its markup language to i-mode-compatible HTML allows J-Sky subscribers to also access any of the more than 40,000 unofficial i-mode content sites, as well as ordinary Internet sites.
• Rank: No. 4
Service H"
Operator DDI Pocket
Official sites 350-plus
Killer content Mail, sound
Target Youth
Net subscribers 2,460,000
Total subscribers 3,123,100
Network system PHS
The cryptically named H" [pronounced "edge"] mobile Net service offered by DDI Pocket actually comprises four equally cryptic brand names: H" Link, Feel H", H" In, and C@rdH"64. Mobile Web access and mail services are offered under H" Link and Feel H", while the other brands refer to mobile data services provided via PC Card or PHS phone, or integrated with certain NEC notebook computers. H" Link mobile Web sites use HTML, and enjoy the same synergy with existing Web developers as do J-Sky and i-mode.
There are about 2.5 million subscribers to H" Link and Feel H", but some 1.6 million of these only use text messaging. Nonetheless, this means that about 79 percent of all DDI Pocket subscribers are using some type of mobile Net service, giving it the highest
penetration ratio. DDI Pocket's service transmits data at 9.6 Kbps, the same as i-mode, but the company plans to convert to packet switching and boost the speed to as high as 128 Kbps by this month.
• Rank: No. 5
Service Dot-I
Operator Astel Group
Official sites about 50
Killer content None so far
Target Youth
Net subscribers Not public
Total subscribers 906,600
Network system PHS
The new kid on the block, Dot-I, launched in December 2000. No word on subscriber count (we guess there are still not many). Astel makes its Web site specs available online (as do the others), and it has (wisely) chosen to go with the HTML standard markup language, allowing users to access any other HTML-formatted Web site. Also pushes "Direct Mail" (a sort of short mail service) that allows subscribers to send mail to each other's phones using only the phone number (see "What's Wrong with PHS?" page 12, April 2001).
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